


The Man in the Hood

by LostInMyWorld



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Nanda Parbat, Poor Life Choices, The Author Regrets Everything, The League of Assassins (DCU), What Have I Done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28536711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostInMyWorld/pseuds/LostInMyWorld
Summary: When Lucy is accidentally left behind in the past, Rittenhouse is about to get her, but there is a shadow out in the woods to save her.Lucy meets a strong and more than capable Assassin.-I don't know what I did, I am soooo sorry, this just happened-
Relationships: Garcia Flynn & Lucy Preston, Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	1. Into the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> As said before, I sometimes regret my life choices. This was a weird creation, due to insommnia and too much fantasies about the League of Assassins as used in the DC-Arrowverse.  
> I don't know what I did here, what I created... I'm so so so sorry.

October 1868

“Rufus!“ Lucy screamed while running towards the lifeboat. The hatch was still open and Rufus was looking back at her, screaming something she couldn’t understand. She ducked her head at flying bullets around her, while running as fast as she could in these damn 19th century shoes and with the heavy muddy bottom of the dress in her way.

Panic started to build up in her, she was still about a hundred meters away from the clearing and thus, the lifeboat, when she saw a bullet grazing something inside, that set off a spark. She saw Rufus’ face panicking turning around while Mason headed towards the hatch, but it closed right in front of him, before jumping out.

She was just at the edge of the tree line, when the lifeboat rings started spinning and it disappeared in front of her eyes. Pouff, and it was gone. Her way home- just disappeared.

The immediate realization hit her, that she was stuck in the middle of the 19th century without anyone who knew her, without a way to get back home. The darkness of the night closed in on her, her vision went blurry and she zoned out, her legs buckled and she fell to her knees.

 _Breath, just breath. Analyze the situation Lucy!_ She told herself. _You are having a panic attack here, not good for survival! Definitely not good! You need to move; they are coming for you. MOVE! NOW!_

But her body didn’t respond. It was a mystery that one of the many bullets still flying hadn’t at least grazed her yet. _Was it because they couldn’t see her in that darkness? Did they even know she was still there, kneeling, without movement, without hesitation to die, alone here in the woods? Breath!_

Just when she heard movement to her right, she closed her eyes and was preparing for being shot at any minute now. But nothing happened. There was another noise, grunting, maybe? She opened her eyes and saw a shadow like figure move through the woods.

Well, she wasn’t sure if it was actually moving, sometimes it seemed more like flying and then disappearing and jumping. Was it a ghost? A shadow?

She just now realized the shooting had stopped. Voices were coming through the woods. They were looking for her, they couldn’t see her, for whatever reason. But she couldn’t stay here, she needed her limps to start working again and maybe crawl away, find a place to hide, maybe using some bushes?

Right behind her a foot snapped a baton. Shellshocked she turned around and saw a massive Rittenhouse goon. He was grinning like Lucifer himself, aiming his gun directly at her forehead. He opened his mouth-

Everything happened so fast, Lucy hadn’t fully comprehended what just happened a few seconds ago. She was now lying on the ground, something heavy pressing her body down, something on her mouth, darkness around her. Her heart started racing like crazy, she couldn’t breathe, she needed air, now, she couldn’t move, something held her in place. She started to panic, tried to move, but whatever held her seemed to have every body part of her pressed down. Tears formed in her eyes and she closed them. That was it, she was going to die here, alone in the dark, nobody would ever find her body, know what happened to her. This was it for her.

“Relax, try to breathe slowly.” She heard a voice, a manly voice near her ear. It was more like a whisper, but something about it was reassuring and somehow calmed her for a short moment. But that moment was enough, her brain gained back its function and was working through the past minute, comprehending everything that had just happened.

_The Rittenhouse goon was about to say something before firing the deadly shot. But just when he opened his mouth, something, no! SomeONE dropped in on him from above. The shadow she had seen before. But it wasn’t a shadow, it was a man in all black clothes. He had a black hood covering his head and something like a scarf pulled up. There was only a slit for his eyes to be exposed into the moonlight. The man had dropped from somewhere above, taking the Goon down with the force of the drop and then there was a snap and the goon went limp in an instant. The snap was a neck, the man in the hood had snapped the goon’s neck with one fluid movement. He then disentangled himself from under the goon and leaped forward into Lucy’s body. The sheer force pushed her backwards and the two of them were rolling down a slope until they came to a stop under a branch of leaves. Out of sight. And now, the weight that was pressing her down, it was the hooded man, laying on top of her. His hand was on her mouth, to prevent her from screaming and he kept her down, out of sight. That meant, he was protecting her from Rittenhouse, whoever he was. And he just told her to breathe. So, he was probably not going to hurt her, right? Why would he just save her life?_

She finally stopped struggling under him and breathed in as deep as she could. She relaxed a little and the man on top of her seemed to notice, he loosened his grip on her mouth. He also turned his head; they were so close and she could even smell his scent.

_Or maybe it was just the smell of the century on his clothes. But surprisingly it wasn’t bad, it was a mixture of wet clothes, mud and some sweat, maybe some blood, but there was something else that made it all disappear. It wasn’t cologne, maybe it was just distinctly him, but it was really not bad at all._

She could see his eyes; they were staring at her in a calming manner. She couldn’t make out their color though, it was too dark. But she relaxed even more while staring into his intense eyes. His hand loosened completely but a finger remained shortly on her lips to ensure her to be silent. She gave the slightest nod and the finger was lifted. His head turned away and he was staring through the leaves of their hideout.

The voices seemed near and far at the same time and it was hard to make out what they were saying. She didn’t know how much time had passed, she kind of lost track when concentrating on her breathing with the constant and steady weight of this stranger’s body pressed against hers. He surely was muscular, that much she could feel even through the several layers she was wearing. Something hard, metallic was pressing against her outer thigh. A dagger? A sword or maybe a hunter’s knife? Was he a local?

“She’s gone! We won’t find her in this darkness.” An angry voice growled directly on her left side, mere inches away from her arm. They really had a good hiding spot, as long as they kept quiet.

“Where’s Vlad?” Another voice a few steps away asked? “Anyone seen Vlad?”

“Here!” came another voice from further up the slope. The two goons that were close moved upwards and away from their hideout. Lucy could feel the muscles pressed against her body tensing even more.

“What happened to him?” Asked the first man.

“His neck was snapped.” Yet another answered.

“What? You don’t wanna tell me now that this little history Professor could have done that, do you?” The first man (obviously the one in charge) asked incredulously.

“I don’t know.” The answer came.

An unsure and younger voice with hesitation was heard: “You know- some people in the village say that these woods are haunted with the ghosts of the soldiers dying in the civil war an”- he was cut off.

“Don’t be ridiculous! There is no such thing as ghosts!” The first man was angry and impatient now and growled his commands: “Grab Vlad’s gun and munition, everything modern and then let’s get out of here. We won’t find her in this freakin’ dark shithole.”

Lucy and her… Protector? – heard some shoveling and then about 4 or 6 men moving away. The last words she could hear were not friendly either.

“- maybe she’ll freeze to death. It’s gonna be cold tonight-.”

And just by hearing these words, her body seemed to have realized they were right, it was freezing cold already and she was all damp and muddy and lying pressed to the cold ground in the middle of the forest.

The movements got more and more quiet and the pressure on her body became lighter, when the hooded figure relaxed on top of her and shifted its weight onto his arms, while propping his head up to see more.

He looked down at her, his eyes indicating to stay quiet. She nodded again and then he was off of her. But he wasn’t standing, instead he was crawling through the woods. Looking back at her, he lifted his hand and made a gesture to follow him. What else was she supposed to do? He had just saved her and kept her from being found. And Rittenhouse was right, she couldn’t stay here all night or she would really freeze to death. So, she followed him.

After a while she felt quite ridiculous to be still crawling and was about to stand up and say something when the figure in front of her got up. He turned towards her, reached for her forearms and pulled her to her feet. He glanced at her, took her hand and without a word started pacing through the rest of the woods, pulling her after him. And for some reason she followed, not without hesitation, though. But she really didn’t have another choice, did she?

#

Her feet hurt, she thought she was freezing, tired and exhausted, but she wasn’t really sure as she couldn’t feel the rest of her body anymore as she stumbled behind the hooded figure. Maybe if she just stopped, the numbness would as well? She was about to just let herself drop to the ground, when the man pulling her behind him stopped. He turned around, looked her up and down and pushed her against the next tree trunk.

“Wait here, I’ll be back in a minute and then you can rest.”

Although barely more than a whisper, his voice sounded warm and pleasant. Was there a slight accent in his words? She was so tired; she couldn’t be sure.

A minute later or maybe an hour, time was really something she couldn’t tell anymore, the man appeared in front of her again. How could he move so fast and silent? He really resembled a shadow in the woods, not leaving any trace of movement. However, fascinating she thought this was, she really just needed to lie down, just sleep.

She found herself on her knees again, crawling into a little cave and behind her was her protector, urging her to move forward. She did and was surprised that she was tired enough to not even care about the tight space she was in. She didn’t really seem to notice it. At the end of the tunnel she got up from her knees standing in a really wide and comfortable cave.

She didn’t really care anymore about anything, so she just slit to the ground near some place that looked like a bonfire had been there before. She was so tired, so exhausted, she just needed some rest, her whole body was still numb. She closed her eyes.

#

Everything hurt, was she alive? Lucy felt something distantly pressing against her body again, was it warm? It felt like something was rubbing her and the part got warmer and warmer, rubbing was good, she thought. But did it really get any warmer? She wasn’t sure and she couldn’t open her eyes. All she was able to do was groaning in pain. She heard a voice in the distance of her head, a nice voice. It was soothing. She couldn’t make out any words, but it was soothing and lulled her back to sleep.

#

The next time she woke, she was opening her eyes. She was still in pain, but she could at least feel all of her limps again. She was lying on her side in front a bonfire. She felt the warmth reflecting on her face and relished it. Where was she? What happened?

She pushed herself up and now sat, looking down herself. She was wrapped up in a giant fur blanket. It was nice, soft on the skin and really warm, especially in front of the fire. It was really soft on her skin, everywhere. Comprehension started to dim in and she lifted the blanket to look underneath. She couldn’t resist a small noise from her mouth. She was sitting here, in a cave, wrapped in a blanket just in her modern-day undies and her modern-day bra.

“Good, you are awake. That means you’re feeling better, probably survive as long as you don’t get pneumonia.”

She turned towards the voice and saw the hooded figure climbing into the cave from a small opening above. He let go of the wall, jumped and landed on his feet on the other side of the fire. (It was really impressing how he moved, but did he ever take of that hood and scarf?)

“Where are my clothes?” was the first thing she could manage to press out with a dry and scratchy voice of hers.

“Still wet, hanged them to dry.” He gestured towards the other side of the wall, where her dress, and chemise hung. “But you won’t need them now, I got you something else to wear.” With these words he crouched down and handed her his open messenger bag. She took it and blinked surprised at some folded clothes inside.

She looked up at him again, he was on her eyelevel and she stared directly into his eyes. It was all she could see of his face. They were green, a shining green with a hint of grey, but in the light of the fire they seemed quite warm and friendly, although they were reflecting something deep, she couldn’t quite grasp.

She noticed, that she was still staring into these deep intense green eyes. Clearing her throat, she averted her gaze and pulled out the bundle of clothes. She looked up again, he had stood up, but was still looking down at her when he pulled his hood back and the black scarf down.

He had a scruff on his face, a small beard forming for a couple of days now and dark hair that was fairly disheveled, a little too long, dirty and he clearly needed a bath, but he was far from unattractive. With those green eyes and the edge of his mouth slightly up, as if he didn’t know how to smile but was not all grim. It was a strange combination.

“You should get dressed.” He said and a slight dimple appeared on his cheek.

Well, he definitely had an accent in his soothing voice. And it was nice.

“Yeah, right.” She said and got slowly up to her feet. He turned around before the blanket slid from her shoulders. She really was a little lightheaded and all her muscles were sore, so her reflexes of catching the blanket were non- existent.

His back turned to her, to give her some privacy, he said: “Tomorrow we’ll leave for town. I got a horse outside; we won’t be obliged to walk. But a woman on horseback will be spotted from a mile away, hence the clothes I got you.”

“I’m decent.” She said. She quickly pulled on the trousers and the shirt he had brought. They were dry and clean and she definitely didn’t want to stay only in that blanket.

She was not angry that he had obviously undressed her and seen her in her underwear. She understood it had been necessary, her dress and chemise were all wet, muddy and cold and she now knew her body must have been too cold, so he had to warm her up as fast as possible.

He turned around again and she studied him more closely. He was taller than her, a couple of inches. He looked a little older, maybe beginning of his 40s or mid 40s? He seemed solid and lean; she already knew he was built muscular since she had felt his body pressing down on her while hiding. But at the same time his features seemed haggard, emaciated and he had dark circles under his eyes. Somehow, he seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place him. Who was he?

“I’m sorry I had to…uh…” He shuffled a little with his feet and averted his gaze towards the ground. “… undress you. Your clothes were wet and your body temperature was down and… I needed to get you warm as fast as possible… soo”

“It’s okay!” She didn’t want to discuss this topic any further. “Who are you?” she asked curiously.

“That’s a long story. But not one for now.” He said while moving around again. “You should eat something and then rest. The ride will be exhausting.”

He handed her some bread and a tin cup with hot fluid in it. She took it graciously and sat back down again. Wrapping the blanket around her shoulders she sniffed cautiously at the liquid and squinted her eyes.

“It’s not poisoned, you know.” He said with a hint of a smirk.

She looked up at him, justifiably cautious, she believed. He just sighed deeply. “Look, if I wanted you dead, don’t you think I would have just left you in the woods to be shot or freezing to death? Saving you to poison you afterwards doesn’t really make sense, does it?” he asked with a humorless tone.

“Who are you and why did you save me?”

“We can talk about it tomorrow, for now, you should eat, drink something and then you should rest. Trust me you will regret it in the morning, if you don’t.”

He sat down on the other side of the fire with a feather and a small leather-bound notebook and started to scribble something down. Obviously ignoring her glares towards his persona.

She gave up glaring at him for answers, that probably wouldn’t come anyway and ate and drank the hot liquid. It felt really good to have her warming up from the inside. Even before she finished, she felt exhausted again and lay down, wrapping the blanket around her. Before she dozed off, she squinted her eyes at him and asked one last question for the night.

“What’s your name?”

He looked up from his notebook, something similar to a smirk appeared on his face.

“Flynn.”

She made an approving noise and drifted off to sleep.


	2. Flynn- Friend or Faux

October 1868

“Where are we going?” Lucy asked, trying to smother her impatience for only getting answers offering more questions, but failing miserably. Furthermore, she was not at all comfortable. They had been riding for a few hours, away from the cave, but only on one horse. Even though she was wearing man’s clothes now and one of Flynn’s large dark cloaks, she resembled more a boy and since he was not giving up the strains, she had no other choice than being awkwardly pressed against his chest.

At least she was properly sitting on the horse, thanks to the trousers. But her back and rear were constantly rubbing or pressing against his front, especially his upper chest. And when she leaned back a little and tried to relax, she could feel his warm breath on her neck. The proximity between their bodies really did suggest another relationship than the one between two strangers.

Flynn was not much of a talker and so far, she wasn’t sure who he actually was or from when, for that matter, but certainly not from around here or 1868!

Back in the cave, when she didn’t want to leave the forest, he had made it clear, that they couldn’t stay there. Rittenhouse would search the forest thoroughly, maybe even start using heat sensors and as much as he liked killing them, he could not take on all of them, since he didn’t have a gun and his knives were only useful in a close-up combat fight. Not much throwing through the woods and trees either.

He definitely didn’t mind killing Rittenhouse goons. He was not favoring them at all. _The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?!_ Lucy thought. Hence, she had no other choice than going with him and trying to leave a mark through history for Rufus and Jiya to find and pick her up soon.

“Where are we going?” She repeated her question, due to a lack of answer.

“We are deep in Native territory; you just have to trust me.”

“I know where we are!” She said, even more impatiently now.

“Good. Then just know, that I will take you to the closest town, without Rittenhouse.”

“How do you even know about Rittenhouse? Why did you save me? Who are you really, Flynn?” She turned her head around with the last question, looking him in the eyes.

“What does it matter to you?”

“It matters, because I don’t trust you. You might have saved me last night, but really, you could be playing a double game or something. I know you are not from 1868 or anytime near. So, you are probably a Rittenhouse sleeper. For all I know, you are helping me to lure out my Team and the Lifeboat and deliver it to your bosses.” 

A deep sigh and a long exhale of air behind her.

“Lucy… my story with Rittenhouse is a long, but not a pleasant one. For now, all you need to know is that they took everything from me, my parents, friends, my youth, my family, they took my whole life and I intend to make them pay as much as I can.” He inhaled deeply and let a moment of silence pass, while she took in his words, then he continued with a tone of bitterness.

“You are right, I am not from here, not from the 19th century. I was born in the year 2001 in Croatia.”

Shocked at his words she jerked her head around a little too fast and winced before looking at him again. “But you are like… what? 40 years old? How long have you lived here? Who dropped you, were you a sleeper? What was your mission? Why do you want to abandon R-“ She was cut off.

“Lucy!”

She stopped and continued staring at him in this awkward position.

“As I mentioned before, it is a long and very complicated story.”

She rose her eyebrows expectantly and said: “Well, it’s not like I am going somewhere soon and since we have nothing else to do but talk for the next… what? 40 miles or so? Tell me the story of your life, Flynn.” She looked up front again not really expecting an answer.

Silence. Then a very low “Fine.”

If she wanted his story, well she could have it, but he told her to keep her gaze on the horizon or he would stop telling her.

 _Did he really just agree to tell her his story? Why the hell did it feel ok to share this personal information with her_? He even had the desire to tell her everything, everything about him, he just didn’t know why. But the feeling was overwhelming and so he started his story, it surely was a long one.

  * He was born in 2001 in Croatia
  * He had always had a strong interest in languages and all kinds of sports when he was young and growing up with a loving mother and father, but his family was poor
  * When he was 12, Rittenhouse came to his home, offering him the chance of a lifetime, an education his parents couldn’t afford to give him but always wanted for him. And all for free.
  * He thought he was lucky, getting the chance of a lifetime.
  * He was sent to Britain, an unknown yet very elite and strict boarding school near Oxford.
  * He was educated in History, Spanish, Russian, English, French, Arabic, German, Fencing, good manners, and encouraged to take on further courses in his free time. So, he did. He learned how to dive, started kickboxing and rock climbing and did some computer courses with advanced mathematics and informatics. He was eager to learn and basically inhaled everything they offered him.
  * For three consecutive years he barely saw his parents, only sometimes via Skype and once in person on Christmas. He was 15 then and realized that he wanted to go back home that Christmas, although the education was good, he wanted to continue High School in Croatia after the next winter break. He was grateful for everything Rittenhouse had offered him, and he would pay them back, once he got a job. With the skill set they had provided him; it shouldn’t be a problem.
  * Shortly after Christmas he was informed his parents died in a car accident, a hit and run, nobody could do anything. They insured him, Rittenhouse was there for him and would become his family now. So, they did.
  * Only two months after his parents had died, they offered him to become part of a special project, and since he had nothing left, he agreed.
  * They didn’t really explain much, but it was the year 2016 and he had seen enough science fiction movies. What he didn’t know was, that they were going to leave him.
  * He was 15 when the Mothership dropped him off in Nanda Parbat in the Hindukush somewhere during the 18th century. And then his training started under Rhas Al Ghul within the League of Assassins and he was transformed into one of their killers.



Lucy startled at the mention of Nanda Parbat. That couldn’t be, she had heard of it, even the mysterious League of Assassins, but it was a myth. It wasn’t real. No One had ever found any prove of their existence. All there was, was a number of old wife’s tales and myths, stories that couldn’t be real. She wanted to turn around and ask him about 1000 questions at once. She opened her mouth but could stop herself from saying anything and thought better of it. She was intrigued by his fascinating story and enchanted by his voice if she was being honest. It was a pleasure to listen to him talking, so she continued to listen and he continued to talk.

  * Rittenhouse brought him back to 2016 after three years of hard training with the League. His body was now 18, already battered and bruised from fighting, he had a few scars since the League didn’t train softly. But he was back only a week after he had left and it was strange.
  * They left him alone for a couple of months, gave him papers that made him older and since he was not a minor anymore in Britain, he began to live a normal life. He quickly found a job as a freelancing translator of several languages and was able to pick his own working hours. He even had a girlfriend during that time. But it wasn’t going to last.
  * Rittenhouse picked him up again one night late in summer and gave him his next assignment. His training would continue. As much as he didn’t want to go, there is just no way of saying no to Rittenhouse. So, he left, again without saying a word to anyone, disappearing into history.
  * They dropped him in 1843 on the doorstep to the West Point Military Academy. And that’s where he had another three years of education. Riding, shooting, riding and shooting, strategical movements and military history up to that point were on the schedule.
  * In 1846 the American and Mexican War broke loose and he was sent there to fight. He was hoping for the mothership to bring him back home, but it never came. So, he fought and fought and fought, for two years.
  * He was about 23 now and the mothership picked him up again, specifically a woman named Emma Whitmore.
  * But she didn’t take him home, she dropped him directly into the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995, only so he could pick up on modern weaponry and grenades and stuff. He fought, he managed the new weapons, found comradery within the war, witnessed terror and death and all cruelties that come with war.
  * He was apparently unlucky and just short before the end of the war, he was captured by a group of Russian spies who identified him as American, ignoring his accent. They smuggled him into Russia and had a nice confinement waiting in a Russian Gulag.
  * It was two years of hell, torturing, work and almost dying before he had the chance to escape. He fled to Mongolia and found shelter with one of the nomads in Northern Mongolia. Where he lived among them for a few months.
  * How Emma had found him, he doesn’t know. But the mothership appeared one day when they were close to the Yakhi lake. And he was happy to see her and in hope to return back home. But apparently that wasn’t the plan. At least he got a quick medical check up and some vaccines for basically everything that existed as a vaccine.
  * He was 29 now, Emma didn’t know about all of his earlier training, especially the one in Nanda Parbat and he was not eager to mention it to her either.
  * But as a trained and loyal Rittenhouse agent, who could navigate through history, he was dropped again, in 1859.
  * He was now to build up his military career for the upcoming Civil War and then was to change the war in favor of the Confederacy.
  * That’s when he met the love of his life, Lorena. He met her in Richmond and for the times, she was one of the most sophisticated women of all her time. She was clever and smart, beautiful and always spoke her mind about politics and even war. He fell head over heels for her and one year later his beautiful daughter Iris was born and changed his whole world.
  * He was up to the rank of General under Jefferson Davis, by the time the Civil War broke out in 1861, which offered him more opportunities to see his girls.
  * He fought, again. He gave strategic advice for some of the battles, he remembered back from school and tried to change the outcome of the war.
  * One day he ran into another sleeper agent, he was planted within in the war in 1864 and was giving him specific orders, while following his own.
  * What nobody accounted for was, that history isn’t always recorded correctly, especially during the 19th Before he could finish his mission, which consisted of an assassination of THE General Ulysses S. Grant, he was badly injured. Something happened, that wasn’t supposed to.
  * He ended up in a Union hospital and they didn’t cut off his injured leg as long as it didn’t get infected. He basically cut the bullet out of his leg himself, since he knew more about proper treatment than any doctor or nurse of the time. The moment he could walk again, he fled the hospital and went back home. His home was a small cabin in the woods, where he thought Lorena and Iris would be safe for everything war related that happened around them.
  * But he was wrong.



That’s when his voice broke and he stopped talking for a while. Lucy could just sit there in awe and utter dumbness of what to say. She was speechless at the sheer amount of information he had just rumbled down without even a hitch in his voice, except for now. He was Rittenhouse, yes, but they had made him suffer. He was a boy when they took him, and that car accident of his parents… surely it wasn’t an accident. And he had lived history, but awful history. He had experienced death and torture and was abandoned, captured, injured and almost died himself a couple of times. How was he still alive? How did he even have the will to go on? But she couldn’t say anything to him, could not look at him. All of a sudden, she wanted to take his hand, wanted to comfort him, take him into her arms. But she didn’t.

His breathing was a bit more rapid now, she could feel the heaving of his chest against her back and feel it brush her neck. Then he continued in an even lower voice than before. His tone was a mixture of sadness, rage, anger and guilt.

  * When he came home, he could see the cabin door was open, even from far away. That was not a good sign. He already had a bad feeling in his gut and feared for his girls.
  * When he went around the cabin, he saw it, saw them.



He choked on his words as he continued and had to stop several times.

  * His girls, Lorena and Iris, they were dead. Their lifeless bodies were hanging down from the tree in their own backyard. The same tree that he had hung a swing on for Iris last time he was home.
  * But now, it wasn’t the swing that was swinging in the wind, it was both of them. And it seemed they had been doing so for a few days. Both of his beautiful girls, his wife, his little daughter. She was five at the time. How could anybody do that to a child? She was innocent and sweet and meant no harm for anyone. She was his angel, the light of his life and when she was born, he couldn’t believe that he deserved something so wonderful after everything he had already seen and done through all the different times.
  * He first believed he was punished for everything he had done, for every war he had fought and for every life he had taken. Now this war had caught up on him.
  * But when he took the bodies down, he saw it. It wasn’t just the war, it was Rittenhouse. There, carved in the skin of Lorena’s arm were two words: _Loyalty_ and _Rittenhouse_
  * They wanted him to know, that it was them. They wanted him to know, that his family died, because he was unable to fulfill his mission. He had failed them and his family payed the price. And on top of that, they stranded him here in this hellhole of the 19th Rittenhouse even ensured, that he was blamed for the murders on his own family and wanted to put him back into prison.
  * He had no other choice but to flee, leave everything behind.



He stopped again for a moment. Lucy just now realized that she was crying silently. Tears were running down her cheeks and must have been running down for a while now. She tried not to make a sound and kept her face straight looking forward. His voice was full of pain with the last words he spoke. The heaving of his chest subsided a little and she could basically feel the defeat in his body as the tension left him.

“Maybe you can understand now, why I hate Rittenhouse.”

She nodded, glad, she didn’t have to look at him, because she wasn’t sure she could stop crying when seeing the pain in his eyes, that must surely be there.

“For the last three years I have wandered around, searching for any sleeper or Rittenhouse agent in this time. I’ve found, interrogated and killed a few of them, but not nearly enough. And certainly not enough sleepers from the future. I just found one last year, up in New York. And then the day before yesterday, those six goons appeared out of nowhere, wandering the woods in Indian territory with modern guns… they couldn’t be more out of place. So, I followed them.”

“And you found me.” Her voice was soft and she wasn’t sure he heard her statement, but he did.

“And I found you.” He repeated with a strange tone.

“So... you are helping me, because you think I am your ticket out of here?”

“First of all- “His voice returning to his usual casualness “you are not with Rittenhouse, which makes you more of my ally than theirs. Second, Rittenhouse obviously _wants you_ , dead or alive, which makes you even more interesting, as I have no idea what reason they could have to be afraid of a little yet gritty woman like you. And third, you are undoubtedly from the future, which means you have another time machine, because you didn’t come with the Mothership. Thus, you will take me home with you and then I can obliterate Rittenhouse in the present. Therefore, your assessment is correct, _you are_ my ticket out of this time. As long as you keep this status quo, you have no reason to be afraid of me, I will not harm you. The only thing I care about is the destruction of Rittenhouse.” He growled the last part of that into her ear.

Although there were still some tears running down her cheeks, she turned to face him. She looked him straight up in the eyes. He seemed a little surprised to see her tears and opened and then closed his mouth again, without saying a word.

“At least I know now, that you will help me… as long as I am useful to your _vendetta_.” She left the rest unsaid, but was sure that it was exactly what he had said between the line. ‘As long as you keep this status quo’- but as soon as she wasn’t useful anymore, he would dispose her and from what she just learned about him, nobody would ever know, nor be able to find her body. Sounded just great, as if time travel and an evil cult wasn’t enough. Now she had to deal and get along with Flynn, a handsome, yet psychopathic, murderous killer machine, who was trained in basically every combat and war technique through several centuries. She needed to keep the status quo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the note style, but it was getting late and I just needed it to go on paper. PLEASE, Don't hate me for this!


	3. Home Sweet Bunker

November 2017

The Lifeboat appeared in the hangar of the bunker and the rings stopped spinning.

Jiya rolled the staircase towards the hatch before it opened. God, she hoped Connor and Rufus had finally found Lucy and brought her home. Their failed mission two weeks ago had left the Lifeboat damaged and it wasn’t easy to repair it, while the fear was ever present. Fear for Lucy, who was left behind, when the controls had malfunctioned due to a stray bullet, fear that Rittenhouse jumped again without them being able to follow. But apparently, they kept in 1868 and Denise, Jiya and especially Wyatt were all worried that they would find and kill Lucy, that that was the only explanation why they would stay for two weeks.

But they hadn’t. Lucy was smart and able and she had somehow managed to print her name all over the local newspapers of a little town in the middle of the Native Indian Territory, so they could pick her up. Wyatt was still out of commission, but his leg was healing good and he could already manage without the crutches, so it wouldn’t be long before he could rejoin Rufus and Lucy and that would also be more comfortable for Connor.

They had now four seats installed on the Lifeboat, but still, Connor hated going. Denise was mostly needed to coordinate Homeland Security’s business and Jiya was spared when Rufus went, to not risk both their pilots on one of these horror missions.

The fight against Rittenhouse had cost them a lot and they were all exhausted. They had had a few arrests, thanks to Lucy’s grandfather, Ethan Cahill. But now, Rittenhouse was run by the ones, that survived, Carol Preston, Nicholas Keynes and worst of all Emma.

Jiya just shook her head and just wanted it all to end.

The hatch opened and Connor exited, she smiled at him. Behind him was Rufus coming out, with a strange facial expression and then came Lucy.

Jiya’s face lit up by the sight of her favorite historian, the woman that had more or less become a big sister to her during these long months of fighting Rittenhouse.

“Lucy!” she exclaimed in a happy loud tone.

“Thank god you are safe and back!” Agent Denise Christopher exclaimed, while walking into the hangar.

“See! Told you! Our Luce was smart and would survive!” Wyatt came in, limping his right leg behind.

All eyes were on Lucy when she reached the bottom of the stairs and Jiya basically tackled her, when she gave her a tight hug. Lucy hugged her fiercely back and couldn’t smother a wide grin. She looked exhausted but otherwise unharmed and it felt like a rock lifted from Wyatt’s heart, when he stepped closer.

“Well-“ Lucy said, looking back over her shoulder, up to the hatch “I wouldn’t have survived without him.” She nodded to Flynn, giving him a grin. While he was just standing on top of the stairs. Looking around and taking in the bunker inventories.

The three of them just noticed him now and all reacted in a different way. Wyatt immediately pulled his gun, pointing it at Flynn’s chest. Jiya took a step backwards, looked him up and down and looked back to Lucy with a silent question in her eyes ‘Who is he?’. But Denise’s question wasn’t silent, she had her hand on her holstered weapon, but it was not yet drawn, when she formed the equivalent to Jiya’s question: “Lucy, would you mind filling us in on” she tilted her head towards Flynn “who that is?”.

Lucy just wanted to take a hot and long shower and eat something that did not include porridge or rabbit meat. So, she needed to dissolve the situation quickly.

“That is Flynn. He is originally from our time, was sent back as a Rittenhouse sleeper, spent several years in the past, without complying to Rittenhouse orders. Rittenhouse then killed his family, almost got him killed, left him in the past and for the last three years he has been trying to find and kill Rittenhouse and eventually find a way home. When we showed up two weeks ago, he saved my life from Rittenhouse, kept me alive in the wilderness and ensured that you would find my name in the newspapers to pick me up. I offered him a ride home, since he originally doesn’t belong there. And here, we are.”

Rufus coughed a little and mumbled “Offered him a ride… more like he is quite scary and made us take him back…”.

Wyatt hadn’t dropped his weapon yet, still glaring at the newcomer with suspicion.

Lucy got a little impatient. She really just wanted to shower. After everything she went through within the last two weeks, she just really couldn’t handle all of them right now.

“Look, he saved my life, on more than one occasion. He killed a couple of Rittenhouse goons that were coming after us and protected me for the past two weeks. I trust him. He is against Rittenhouse, so are we, which makes him our ally. And more than that, he can even give us vital information, since he used to be Rittenhouse.”

“That is exactly, why I am worried.” Denise said. “We are not sure he can be trusted, nor that anything of what he told you is true.”

“I trust him. At least give him a chance to explain.” She gave an apologetic nod to Flynn, still standing on the staircase and without a word yet.

“Fine, you have your chance, thanks to Lucy.” Denise gave her a stern look. Then her expression changed to that motherly softness. “You look like you have been through hell. Take a shower, get cleaned up, maybe Jiya can prepare you a Sandwich or something.” She gave a suggestive tilt.

Jiya complied and headed for the kitchen, with Rufus behind her.

“I will go and check on the Mothership’s status.” Connor said and headed towards the Computer area.

“Good. And you-“ Denise lifted her finger, indicating Flynn to follow her “come with me and tell me your story. Wyatt, would you mind accompanying us?”

“Sure ma’am!” He said and limped behind the two, still with his gun drawn.

Lucy sighed and headed for the shower, she just wanted to get clean, wash all the mud, dirt, sweat and blood from the 19th century down the drain. And that’s what she did, and it felt so good. She had missed modern plumbing.

#

After telling her the most basic parameters of him, Denise started to type away on the computer, trying to find prove of what he has told her. But it would need time. He hadn’t told her everything that he told Lucy, just where and when he was born, that he was in the war in Bosnia, learned to fight and then in the 19th century, where he met Lucy and then ended up back in the modern world. Everything else was for later or maybe never.

After verifying the information about his parents’ death, she let him of the hook, for now. She told Wyatt to set him up with the necessary shower equipment, which he did begrudgingly, but always the one to follow orders.

And then Flynn was finally alone in the bathroom. It wasn’t much, seemed like an old military base. But it was more than he had had for half of his life, and it was running water. He showered and after using the shampoo and bodywash, he felt cleaner than he had in ages. How he had missed this feeling.

He was standing behind a wall in front of the sink and decided to shave the beard off of his face and to cut his hair. He was military trained; he didn’t like it to be this long. And Wyatt had equipped him with both, scissors and shaver.

There was a knock on the door and he heard Lucy’s voice. “Hey, I brought you some clean clothes, nothing special, but I think they should fit you. I, uh, will just leave them here on the chair.”

He managed a strangled “Thanks.” But nothing more and he heard her footsteps subside.

#

Freshly showered, clean shaven and with a new haircut, wearing some cargo pants and a simple black V-neck T-Shirt with a black cardigan, he felt really human for the first time in years. And that’s how he entered the common area, where he heard a couple of voices arguing.

He didn’t mean to sneak in on them to eavesdrop, but it was kind of his natural skill. After becoming a member of the League of Assassins for three years, you cannot not sneak. Stealth mode was the only mode he knew.

“We know nothing about him. I don’t trust him.” Wyatt said with an angry voice.

“He saved my life, more than once.” Lucy defended Flynn in front of the others.

“Well, for all we know, this could still be Rittenhouse’s Grand Plan. What if he is sneaking in here to kill us all, while we are sleeping?” Wyatt continued.

Lucy got angrier. “He will not! You haven’t spent two weeks with him. I have! And you know what, Wyatt?! I do trust him, even with my life!”

“Why?” Was his simple question. Lucy was startled and furious. She didn’t need to defend Flynn in front of the others, she trusted him. Although she didn’t really know why. It was more a feeling in her gut, she couldn’t describe it, but it was there. Like an undeniable truth, that whatever happened, Flynn would never harm her. (He had said differently in the past, but she didn’t believe him then, and even less she believed his words now, she somehow thought it was just a mask he put on.) And he really did defend her with his own life during the two weeks they spent in the past together. It’s not like they have grown really really close, but certainly she knew him more and had seen more of him, than any other of them. And she did trust him, he had proven as much in protecting her.

Lucy was looking for words and Wyatt continued with more edge in his voice.

“Why Lucy? What evidence do you have?”

Lucy was on the verge of breaking down. She didn’t want to argue, she didn’t want to have to defend Flynn or her gut feeling, she was so exhausted.

“I just know! Okay?!” She said angry and exhausted.

“Oh well then. You just know? Seriously, Luce?!”

“I just… I just feel it in my gut. Okay?! I just know!” She said tired.

“Well, that is just great!” Wyatt threw his arms into the air. “So, we are supposed to just trust that this supposedly ‘former’” He made a gesture of exclamation marks, “Rittenhouse sleeper and after what you just told us, well trained psychopathic murderer, is not going to kill us all while we are sleeping. Is that what you mean? Your gut feeling against all our lives?”

Lucy looked tired and exasperated and opened her mouth for a response. But he couldn’t witness this charade any more. Before she could retort to Wyatt, Flynn cleared his throat loud enough for everyone to hear.

None of them had seen him, standing in the corner of the common area and they all jumped around. Rufus was closest to him and let out a surprised “Geez, man! How long have you been here?”

Jiya’s head snapped up from the kitchen counter so rapidly, her neck made a little noise and she eyed him from head to toe. Taking him in, her jaw dropped a little and she tried to keep her composure. Was that even the same man?

Lucy slowly turned around and eyed him. She barely managed to keep her jaw from dropping but felt like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. _Wow_ … She had spent two weeks with him in the past, but she didn’t expect _this_. He looked so different, clean and shaven and his hair was shorter and the clothes clearly complemented his large, solid frame. He had a very handsome face, not as rough as before and Lucy realized he looked a little younger without the beard, definitely more like 40 years than 45, although she knew he was just 38. But living half your life in the past had left its traces. _But he looked… good! Like really good_.

Lucy was the first to break the audible silence. “You, uh… you look different.” Was all she could stumble.

He just gave her a confused look and a raised eyebrow before turning his attention to Wyatt.

“You know, I wouldn’t have to wait until you are asleep, to kill you. Right?” Flynn stated with a casualness that shouldn’t be there when talking about killing people.

Over the past two weeks, Lucy had gotten used to his sarcastic comments, a little sass here and there and discovered he even had a real dry sense of humor, weird humor, yet not too bad at times. But now, this statement really wasn’t helping his case.

Wyatt wrinkled his nose and looked in disgust towards Flynn. He turned back to Lucy and glared at her with a silent _‘Really?_ ’ formed from his mouth.

Lucy was just tired; she shrugged her shoulders at Wyatt and glanced at the others. They all looked at her in surprise, when she started her motion towards Flynn. She grabbed his wrist, half turned around and said: “I’m going to bed. I’m taking him with me now, so you don’t have to keep watch. If you want, just lock my room from the outside and you don’t have to worry anymore.”

With that and nothing else, she turned towards the corridor and pulled Flynn with her. He had a strange expression on his face as well. It was a mixture of amusement, confused surprise and a sassy smirk. But he followed her nudging at his arm without resistance or another word. He was exhausted as well, so why not take the chance to sleep for a couple hours, it really sounded good.

The two of them reached her room and as soon as they stood inside, she realized there was only one cot. She glanced around, but before saying anything Flynn spoke.

“I’ll take the floor.” His voice low and tired. _Always the gentleman_ , she thought.

“No, take the cot, I’ll be fine in that chair.” Lucy grimaced and tried a reassuring tone, but failed completely.

“Lucy… I am used to the floor. Just… do you have another blanket?” He said in a tone that made clear he didn’t want to argue about it anymore.

After a stern look, she gave up. She handed him two blankets and a pillow. He set out one blanket on the floor and built his bed with the pillow on the opposite side of her cot.

He was lying down, before she could even get her shoes off. And she knew, for now it was ok. They were both just really, really exhausted.

She lay down and pulled the blanket close. She felt his steady presence near her, in this tiny room. They didn’t need to touch, she knew he was there. She had learned that during the past two weeks. And as she had said before to Wyatt, she _just knew_ , that she was save with him. This feeling warmed her from the inside and she had no trouble falling asleep. She felt save and protected.

And thus, the Time Team had another addition, fighting the good fight through time: Garcia Flynn, over accomplished, highly trained assassin without a conscience… or maybe he had one…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what kind of Superhuman Assassin I created here! It just happened.   
> But what did actually happen during those two weeks Lucy and Flynn spent in the past? Any ideas? Use it or lose it.   
> And can Flynn really be a good addition to their little Time Team?   
> Why does Lucy trust him so much and with her gut?   
> I really don't know.


End file.
